News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Disney Springs, Epcot, Events, Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World

They're going to bring this back to Food & Wine, right? — They’re going to bring this back to Food & Wine, right?

The biggest “news” since we last shared a helping of News Nuggets is the announcement of the details of Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival. This year’s festival runs 75 days from opening Aug. 31 through Nov. 1. It was also have 35 booths (“marketplaces”) this year. For more details, check out Disney’s press release about what’s to come.

Now, from the rest of the nuggets:

The New “Minnie Mouse Loves Dots” Collection is Now Available at UNIQLO at Disney Springs – In a surprise to no one, Elyssa has already picked up a few things from this collection.
The Rock Working with Disney Imagineering to Update The Jungle Cruise Attraction for Upcoming Film – I think I’m going to need Dwayne to skipper a boat for Elyssa and ,e before I can fully evaluate these changes. (Sadly, it looks like this rumor wasn’t true.)
New MagicBand 2 Colors Unveiled at Walt Disney World Resort – The headline for this article is weird, since it mentions the colors (which aren’t available separately), but the article is really about the custom designs.
New Mickey Mouse Celebration Cakes Coming Soon to Walt Disney World Resort – These look like monochrome versions of the Amorette’s Patisserie cakes, but are cheaper and available in the Disney restaurants.
Reservations Now Open for ‘The Music of Pixar LIVE!’ Dining Package at Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Dining packages are all the rage. I wonder if this show will actually require on, though.
Incredibles Super Dance Party Being Replaced in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom; Limited Time Meet & Greet – I admit it: Elyssa & I have had fun at the Incredibles Dance Party in the past.
Celebration at the Top – Savor, Sip, and Sparkle extended to select Sundays through August 27, 2017 – No real surprise, here. I’m still not sure this event is something I’ll do, though.
Disney Store Introducing “Fantasyland Football” Theme Park Merchandise in Fall 2017 – I own a couple of the basketball shirts, so I hope they make the football ones as nice.
Mickey Mouse races around London in promotion of his new animated series “Mickey and the Roadster” – Adorable.
Disney Parks Chairman Bob Chapek to Reveal What’s Next at D23 Expo 2017 – It’ll be tough to top last year’s announcements. Maybe just some more details about things they’ve already talked about?
Alcoholic Milkshakes & Floats Arrive at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Just In Time for Summer – That’s one way to spend some time during the heat of the summer at The Studios.
Sound Lion now closed at Disney Springs – Huh. I actually wandered into the store the other week while waiting for Elyssa. I imagine it was tough to get the kind of volume necessary in “high end headphones” to cover the Springs rent.
Rumors point to a possible Haunted Mansion restaurant at Magic Kingdom – Friend of the site Ken Storey writes about the latest dining rumor.
Walt Disney World plans to deploy driverless shuttles in Florida – These seem inevitable, especially since Disney can just map every square inch of its property to plug into its driverless system.
WDW News Today Rumor about Walt Disney World Looking to Build Volcano-Themed Resort Hotel at the Magic Kingdom – I thought the rumor of the volacno coaster (I first heard from Jim Hill) was a little extreme, but this takes it up a notch.
This Mother’s Day, Pamper Mom at Disney Springs – If you’re going to be down at Disney World over Mother’s Day, maybe you want to check out a special gift for your mother.
Baby Groot & Star Lord of MARVEL’s Guardians of the Galaxy Now Meeting Guests at Walt Disney World – I enjoy Disney feeling out the edges of the Universal deal. That said, it’s not exactly Chris Patt meeting as Star Lord. (Baby Groot seems promising, though.) Here’s a video of the experience:

Disney Springs to host free yoga session ‘Yoga By the Springs’ for small group of guests – Again, if you’ll be at Disney World on May 9th and like yoga, why not give this a shot?
Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom to be Closed Summer/Fall 2017 for Refurbishment – All of September, and October, and the first half of November? That’s a long refurb.
Kenny the Pirates’s Rumor Round Up of the Character Changes at Walt Disney World – Moana seems like a natural fit for Adventureland. Also, Rey in the BB-8 meet-and-greet would be awesome, but the queue would need to get much bigger.
Paddlefish at Disney Springs Offering Unique Mother’s Day Special – $48 is a lot for a pasta dish, even if it has Lobster (though I probably pay that much for a good steak a few times a year).
Cake Decorating Experience at Amorette’s Patisserie Extended through August – It’s a “different” experience, but $129 is still more than I would value it.
Catch a Sneak Peek of Disney·Pixar’s ‘Cars 3’ Now at Disney Parks – You can just look at the Disney movie release schedule to see what’s coming up. (Thor after this, right?)
Member creates DVC Investment Calculator – Seeing the overall investment over the length of a contract can be pretty daunting.
May 2017 Monorail service adjustments – Check this out: “From 11:30am to 6:00pm on May 16, 17, 23 and 24, stops at the Contemporary will be switched to the Express Monorail line. During this period, the Resort Monorail will shuttle between the Polynesian, Grand Floridian and Magic Kingdom only. The Express Monorail will make stops at the TTC, Contemporary and Magic Kingdom. ” I’m sure that won’t confuse anyone.
Savor a Taste of the Pacific Northwest at Geyser Point Bar & Grill – Nice little promotional video for Geyser Point. Unfortunately, the food and service don’t really live up to the location. (At least from out experience.) Maybe when Roaring Fork is back open, there will be less stress on Geyser Point and the service will improve.
Creators Ready ‘Happily Ever After’ for May 12 Debut at Magic Kingdom Park – I’m still apprehensive about this show, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that it’s going to come together at the end. I’ll embed the preview video at the end of hte post.
Additional Backstage Viewing Area Being Opened for “Wishes” Farewell and “Happily Ever After” Debut at Magic Kingdom – Disney is anticipating a pretty big crowd for the end of Wishes and the start of Happily Ever After. I think they’re probably right to expect that.
Typhoon Lagoon closing for maintenance mid-May – Looks like you shouldn’t plan on visting Typhoon Lagoon on May 15 and 16.
Disney is about to revive one of its classic theme park ride systems – Has it really been 30 years since Disney built an all ages BOATRIDE in the US?
Fittings and Fairings Clothes and Notions – Between this and the Captain’s Grill, there’s a lot closed at the Yacht Club.
Disney World gondolas would connect parks, hotels, documents confirm – It really looks like this whole gondola system is going to happen, huh?
Rumors of Disney Creating Star Wars “Starship” Luxury Resort & Experience Attached to Disney’s Hollywood Studios – What’s interesting to me about this rumor is how far it’s spread. I’ve had a number of people I wouldn’t consider diehard Disney fans bring it up to me.
Frozen Summer Games Coming to Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park Starting May 26 – Interestingly, this is still the only place that you can meet Kristoff on Disney property.

Here’s the preview for Happily Ever After video I mentioned earlier. Seem you next time!

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Disney Springs, Epcot, Events, Magic Kingdom, Planning, Touring, Walt Disney World

Even the holidys don’t slow down the amount of news that comes out about Disney World, so it’s time for another edition of the Rope Drop [dot] News Nuggets!

Obviously, the biggest item of news is the upcoming transformation of Spaceship Earth into the frakin’ Death Star at the upcoming Rogue One premiere event (which, of course, is already at capacity.) I’m probably in the minority on this, but I wish they’d do this more than just the one night.

The other big items are related to various festivals that occur at Epcot over the course of the year:

All-New Epcot International Festival of the Arts Coming to Walt Disney World Resort in January 2017 – Another step toward Epcot having “festivals” all year round. This one is particularly interesting as it will only take place on Friday-Monday (in doubt because of the lower crowd attendance during this time of year.)
New Outdoor Kitchens and Topiaries for 2017 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival – The “Mini-Food & Wine” festival, is–admittedly–my favorite Epcot festival. Even though the “outdoor kitchens” have had more misses than hits, I love walking around and looking at the topiaries.
Dates Announced for the 2017 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival – January-February Festival into Flower & Garden into Summer into Food & Wine into Holidays. (Couldn’t they have extended it to August 18 to cover Elyssa’s birthday?)

Now, on to the rest of the Nuggets:

PizzeRizzo Review at Disney’s Hollywood Studios – PIzzeRizzo is now open, but–sadly–it seems they’re still serving the same pizzas as Pizza Planet did before.
Empanadas & Fajitas Replace Barbecue Options at Fairfax Fare, Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Similar concept to what they’re doing at Pecos Bill’s, but it sounds like the execution is a little lacking. Pork sandwich sounds interesting, at least.
The Disney Gift Card eGift Is Now Available – Here’s the solution to the “it’s Christmas Eve and I forgot to get Disney Fan X a gift!!” scenario.
Fuelrod Service Extending to Select Disney World Resort Hotels – No comment.
$5 package pickup fee may be charged at Walt Disney World hotels – Fees like this take away from the special feelings that Disney gives with its resorts. I do not approve.
The New Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory at Port Orleans Resort, French Quarter – I’m not a huge fan of the content in Disney Food Blog reviews (I don’t think they turn a critical enough eye to most items), but this post does have a bunch of pictures and good information about the reopened food court.
D-Living Home Décor Store Coming to Disney Springs Just in Time for the Holidays – I always am interested in the new stores coming to Disney Springs, but I wonder if this one will have anything different than what you can find at various other Disney stores around the resort.
All-Star Resorts Are Selling Pizza at the Bus Stop – I know this sounds kind of weird, but I know there have been situations where I’ve just wanted something to eat when I got back to my hotel, and I bet I would have bought one of these if it were available. On the other hand, I can’t get behind snack carts in the Epcot parking lot. (And, in case you care: here’s a review of the actual pizza..)
New Amenities Coming Soon to Disney’s Wilderness Lodge – I love the Wilderness Lodge. I hope the updates look have as good in real life as they do in this preview. WDW News Today posted the other picture that was released.
ABC Commissary at Hollywood Studios Testing New Dinner Service with Food Delivery – This is a little weird to me. I guess they want to make the Commissary feel like a little higher end place at night? Here are a couple of reviews from easyWDW and WDW News Today, which I’d classify as “luke warm”.
Moana Meet and Greet Replaces a Portion of Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream – The mystery is solved. It’s not a Doctor Strange meet-and-greet, it’s Moana. With the movie now open in theatre’s, though, I wonder how long she’ll be meeting.
Disney gives cast members a look at ‘Rivers of Light’ next week – Are we going to see Rivers of Light before the turn of the year? It looks like it’ll come down to how well these cast member previews go.
Tiana’s Riverboat Party Ice Cream Social & Parade Viewing Launches At Magic Kingdom Park Nov. 29 – When I originally was making a note about this story, I thought I’d value this experience at $49. I figured that meant Disney would charge $79. I’m pleasantly surprised they didn’t. Unfortunately, as Josh points out in his review, it turns out the view is kind of awful.
Enchanting Extras Collection – Relatedly, the various tours, dessert parties, etc.. now fall under the “Enchanting Extras” branding.
News: Sake & Shine Event with Chef Masaharu Morimoto and Chef Art Smith Coming to Disney Springs Dec. 3 – This seems like a dream night for friend of the site, Howie from Maryland. If only they could have had Captain Phasma make a guest appearance for him.
Dinosaur reopens from refurbishment with updated effects – They got it open before the Thanksgiving rush (which was really the deadline they needed to hit.)
Date Night at STK Orlando + Save $25 – Ignore the (slightly?) over the top language in the post, but–if you’re going to go to STK–you can take advantage of the $25 off promo that they list at the end.
Rumors of the Magic Kingdom After Hours event returning – This event was fantastic. I loved it. I really hope they bring it back.
Aerial View of Construction at Hollywood Studios, Latest Progress on Toy Story & Star Wars Lands – You can make jokes all you want about the pace of Disney construction, but they are clearly doing something out back there. That is a lot of area that they’ve cleared.
Expanded Bus Service Coming to Disney’s Port Orleans Resorts – This seems like a nice change. One of the reasons I like French Quarter is its Magic Kingdom bus service, and it sounds like Riverside is moving a little closer to that.
Germany at Epcot Now Has Jumbo Pretzels Bigger Than Your Head – A giant, $10 pretzel? Sure. Why not?
Atlantic Dance Hall throwback nights throughout December – Cool? (Seriously, I don’t know anyone who’s ever gone there–other than to see what it was.)
2017 Magic Kingdom Party Reservations Now Open for Select Members – If you’re someone who gets other DVC perks, and you have a reservation during party time, you can book now.
Review of Disney Vacation Club Soarin’ Around the World Tour – Kenny the Pirate gives a positive review of a nice, little DVC perk.
Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort to begin $12M lobby overhaul – The Dolphin lobby could probably use an update, so I’m completely fine with this (though I hope it won’t be too much of an issue for guests in April who are there for the Star Wars half marathon.)
$30 off Discount for Club Villain for AP Holders & DVC Members – I think this is still just a little pricier than I value this experience, but it’s getting closer. If the discount had been $50 off the $129 price instead of just $30, I would have really thought about going.
Disney introducing Express Transportation ticket option – Special buses between “backstage areas” to go from park-to-park quicker. Interesting concept, esepcially if it really is just “$24 for length of stay”.
Complimentary Tour of Old Key West – I feel like I would enjoy something like this. (Though, I’ve never done one.)

We’ll close this edition of the News Nuggets with this video walkthrough of the famous Royal Asanta Presdiental Suite at Animal Kingdom Lodge. This might be the closest I’ll ever get to actually being in that:

Initial Thoughts from Our October 2016 Disney Trip

by John Animal Kingdom, Commentary, Disney Springs, Epcot, Events, Featured, Holidays, Magic Kingdom, Trips

Our latest trip to Disney World focused around a few major Disney World events: Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. I’ve learned these past couple of years that having defined things that we want to do lets us feel a little of the time pressure that people who don’t visit as frequently as we do can end up feeling. It makes for an interesting trip. Here are some initial thoughts:

The End of Celebrate the Magic:I’ve already written about how much Celebrate the Magic means to Elyssa and me, but seeing the show for the last time was still overwhelmingly emotional for both of us. I have faith that the new projection show will be good, but I doubt we’ll ever have the emotional connection to that new show that we have to this one. It truly will be missed.
Kona Cafe (Breakfast): I still love starting a day with a press of Kona Coffee and an order of Tonga Toast. Elyssa almost always ends up with a Big Kahuna (which, again, is a great way to start the day.) We normally get an early ADR, and then head to the Magic Kingdom to watch the Welcome Show. I don’t know if I’d recommend Kona if you want to rope drop Mine Train, but it’s pretty perfect for what we use it for.
Homecoming Florida (Dinner or Drinks): Homecoming is fast becoming one of our favorite spots to grab a drink later at night (in addition to being an excellent dining option for either lunch or dinner.) Fried Chicken, biscuits, and hush puppies aren’t the most “adventurous” of dishes, but Homecoming does them very well. If southern comfort food is something you enjoy, I’d definitely give Homecoming a shot.
Animal Kingdom at Night is a (Hidden?) Gem: We now build nights at Animal Kingdom into our trip. An evening Safari, a drink or two at Nomad Lounge, and the Tree of Life Awakenings (which are extremely fun to watch) all make for a really enjoyable night.
Seeing Friends is Always Fun: Elyssa and I were fortunate enough to run into world famous podcaster, “Light ‘Em and Hide”, twice including once with a guest appearance by similarly renowned Disney theme park photographer Brandon Glover. Though we didn’t get to meet up with friends of the site, Dutch, Josh, or Eric, I’m sure we’ll run into them again before too long. Name dropping aside, it’s always nice to spend time with people we know from this little hobby of ours. I hope the trend those meet-ups continues.

Over the next week (or two, or three…), I’ll be working some more in-depth coverage of a few of things we did, but here is a little preview:

Goofy and Pals Breakfast at the Four Season: Elyssa and I decided to switch things up on the character breakfast front and try something a little different. My (almost) twitter length review: Breakfast was good. It has a little different vibe than standard Disney character meals (fancier?). The food also seemed to be a step up from what you might find at a traditional Disney buffet. The character interactions were superb (and if that’s what you want, I’d recommend making a 10:45am or so reservation, since the place was nearly cleared out by 11:00.).
Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween Party: Halloween is Elyssa’s favorite holiday, so we had been thinking about planning a trip around the halloween party for years. Things finally fell into place this year. We arrived at the party a little before 4 (and used our AP to gain admission.) We ended up meeting Tink, Rapunzel, Tiana, the Seven Dwarfs, and riding Mine Train before the party officially started at 7pm. From then on it was character meet-and-greets, parades, fireworks, and candy. It was a super fun night (Maybe Elyssa and I should do a Mic Drop segment on it??)
Is there anything left for me?
Food and Wine: I feel like the stand outs from Food & Wine the past couple of years are either desserts or from the Chew booths (or sometimes, both.) Things like the Liquid Nitro Truffle, or the Peanut Butter and White Chocolate Mousse stand out in my memory more than the duck bun I got from China. At this point, I’d probably be fine attending 1 or 2 mornings mid-week and calling it a Festival.

Overall, it was a pretty great (if not a little jam packed) trip (even with Celebrate coming to and end.)

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Animal Kingdom, Dining, Disney Springs, DVC, Epcot, Events, Magic Kingdom, Shopping, Walt Disney World

Here are Rope Drop [dot] Net HQ we’re still recovering from the price increase that happened this weekend. Of course, even 8-10% ticket price increases can’t stop us from publishing the next edition of the News Nuggets!

All-New ‘Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire’ Stage Show Coming This Summer to the Magic Kingdom – Putting Anna, Elsa, Rapunzel, Flynn and Tiana in a show in front of the castle seems like a no-brainer. I wonder if this is the start of a trend that will see more and more entertainment being updated (Illuminations, anyone?)
Frozen Ever After and Royal Sommerhus now to open in Summer – This, obviously, could just be a typo, but would anyone be surprised if it took a few more months to get this ready to open?
Symphony in the Stars Fireworks to Continue through at least April. – This leads into the next nugget, which happens in April:
New Star Wars Entertainment coming to The Studios this Summer – With the new “Star Wars Stage Show”, the march of Captain Phasma, and the new “Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular” firework show, it sounds like this Disney is going “all in” with Star Wars at The Studios this summer.
Disney Moves Magic Kingdom’s May 24th Morning Extra Magic Hour to May 27th – I link to this not because of the actual content of the news, but for Josh’s analysis as to what it could mean for 24-hour day. Even though Elyssa and I wouldn’t be able to make 24-hour day this year, I’ll be bummed if we’ve seen the last one.
New Concept Art Released for Star Wars Land – The special itself was a little bit of a letdown, but the “concept art” sure looks pretty. (Are we still thinking 2018 before this is done? 2020?)
WDW News Today explains how It thinks the “eternal sunset” will occur in Kilimanjaro Safaris. – A nice little rumor / insight from WDW News Today about how Disney might be planning to achieve its “eternal sunset” effect.
Kylon Ren joins Jedi Training at The Studios – I’m surprised with how quickly they’ve integrated Kylo Ren into the various Star Wars attractions at The Studios. I’m probably equally surprised that they haven’t done something to allow photos with BB-8, yet.
Toy Story Midway Mania Closed March 15 to Prepare for Third Track. – The third track is rumored to open in summer 2016. It should help a lot with the capacity issues for this attraction. Also, re-book you Fastpass+ for March 15 so you can do what you want instead of the backup Disney gives you (I might just plan to go to another park that day).

Phew. That was a lot of News Nuggets. Let’s take a quick break to relax in the early morning glow of World Showcase:

Early Morning at World Showcase

Now, back to the News Nuggets!

DFB Rumor about Star Wars Ice Cream coming to the Boardwalk – The DFB has to connect a lot of dots to get there, but it’s a nice little rumor. Of course, nothing is stopping Disney from just branding any ice cream as “Kylo Ren Tracks” on its own.
Rumors of Rivers of Light Dining Packages Possibly Coming to Tusker House – Some more rumor scooping by DFB. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this happened.
A light test of Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom? – Speaking of Rivers of Light, this picture seems to be a test of the lighting effects they will be using during Rivers of Light at the Animal Kingdom. I wonder how close they are to really having that show ready.
The Land of Avatar Rises at the Animal Kingdom. – Da Mouse is always great with these types of photo essays. If you’re interested in the Avatarland..err..”Pandora” construction, then you should give this a look.
A few menu items for Tiffins at Animal Kingdom Revealed. – The pork ribs sound pretty amazing.
Disney Springs Water Taxi hours to be reduced – This seems consistent with rumors of budget cutbacks at Disney World, but it’s tough for me to get too upset about the water taxis not running after midnight.
No more Turkey Legs at the Animal Kingdom – Elyssa and I aren’t big turkey leg people, so this doesn’t really impact us too much. That said, it’s always a little weird when something iconic is removed from one of the parks.
All-New Character Meet featuring Olaf and Mickey & Minnie Coming Soon to The Studios. – Putting Olaf in The Studios while Anna & Elsa are in Epcot is pretty brutal for families that want to make sure they get to all the Frozen meet-and-greets. I imagine the line for Olaf is going to be quite long for some time.
The next Phase of the Disney Springs Expansion Announced. – Wow. This is a ton of stuff. I definitely am looking forward to trying out the burger place, and I am hoping Fulton’s really steps up its game. I understand people are “upset” that stores “they have in their local mall” are showing up at Disney Springs, but it doesn’t really bother me.
Two big new features coming soon to MyMagic+ – I hope WDW Magic is right on this one. Being able to make the 4th (5th, 6th, etc…) Fastpass+ reservation from my phone instead of at a kiosk would be a really nice change.
All-You-Care-To-Enjoy Dining Coming to The Diamond Horseshoe in Magic Kingdom Park – All-you-care-to-enjoy BBQ with a nice apple dessert sounds like it might be okay.
Same Day Reservations at the Skipper Canteen Extended. – Personally, I’m glad that Skipper Canteen exists and allows me to get a reservation in the Magic Kingdom almost any day. That said, I have to wonder how long it will be before it starts using a more traditional ADR system.
Orlando bids for 2017 & 2018 Wrestlemanias. – Okay, this isn’t really Disney news, but I am about 99% sure I’d go to Wrestlemania weekend if it took place in Orlando.
Dates Announced for 2016 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival – Much like Flower & Garden, this year’s Food & Wine festival is going to be longer than before, running from September 14 through November 24. That’s a start about 2 weeks earlier than normal.

We’ll finish things up with a couple of “events” from Disney World. First, they recently had a DVC 25th Anniversary “party” at the Magic Kingdom. It featured, among other things, a rare appearance by the Haunted Mansion’s tightrope girl and a special fireworks show. Here are the videos of that show from DVC News, Inside the Magic, and The DIS:

Also, Flower & Garden festival starts tomorrow. There’s a nice primer to the festival at TouringPlans and Denise at Mouse Steps has put together a really nice preview. If you’re still looking to get more hyped for the festival, I’ll leave you with this video from The DIS:

Thanks for reading!

Items We Tried at the 2015 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

by John Commentary, Epcot, Events, Featured

Following the trend established by the Mighty Men of Mouse podcast, I figured now (when the festival has ended?) is the perfect time to recap some of the items Elyssa and I had at this year’s Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.

As I have mentioned before, I made my list of “to try” items based on Josh’s reviews over at easyWDW. If you want a more comprehensive list of all the items that were available at this year’s festival (or a more detailed review of flavor profile of each individual item), I suggest giving that a shot.

With that out of the way, here’s what I tried:

Farm Fresh

Loaded Mac n’ Cheese with Nueske’s pepper bacon, cheddar cheese, peppers and green onions: Elyssa got a serving of this, and I had a bite. I found it to be okay in its overall flavor (but I’m not the big macaroni and cheese fan that Elyssa is.) I think I agree with Josh’s take that there were way too many onions for a portion this size.

Griddled “yard bird” with braised greens
and house-made habanero sauce: While Elyssa went with the above listed macaroni and cheese, I chose the griddled “yard bird.” The habanero sauce did end up giving the chicken a nice bit of spice (standard disclaimer that I’m the type to order “medium” hot wings instead of “atomic”), and that size of the portion was okay. I assume the braised greens were intended to be a garnish, so I didn’t eat them.

New Zealand

Lamb meatball with spicy tomato chutney: This was a pretty straightforward dish: a big meatball in a bread bowl. It was right up my alley and it was quite good (even if I ended up spilling some of it on myself.) I’m not sure I noticed anything particularly “spicy”, but that didn’t really impact my enjoyment of this.

Africa

Beef tenderloin tips berbere-style with okra, jalapeños, tomato and papit: As Josh noted, you can smell the spices for this one as you walk by. Though it was a little more spicy than I would normally like, both Elyssa and her sister (who both would order the “atomic” wings in a heart beat) really enjoyed it.

Morocco

Baklava (Oops, I got to excited and forgot to take a picture of the one I ordered.)

Baklava: I decided to use this year’s Food & Wine Festival as a chance to try baklava (for the first time in my life.) For a first taste (ever) of this pastry, it was pretty good. (Since then, I’ve gotten the frozen stuff from Trader Joe’s. The Food & Wine stuff was better than that.) I’m still far from a baklava connoisseur, so feel free to take that into consideration.

Belgium

Potato and leek waffle with beer-braised beef: Though this booth was stocked with items I wanted to try, I ended up choosing this waffle with beef. The beef was tender and the waffle was quite good. I really liked this.

Belgian waffle with warm chocolate ganache and whipped cream: Elyssa, on the other hand, went with this waffle with chocolate. I’m not sure how to review a fresh waffle with chocolate, other than to say “It’s as good as you’d expect it to be” (i.e., pretty good.)

Ireland

Lobster and Seafood Fisherman’s Pie: This was really, really good. Potatoes, lobster, cheese. How can you go wrong with an item that sounds so delicious? (Actually, don’t answer that.) The only negative thing I have to say about this item is that having it almost immediately after entering the festival set my expectations a little too high for the rest of the available items.

Chew Lab

Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey Caramel These things were amazing. They had a texture and taste almost like ice cream (but with more of a mousse-like consistency) and the caramel on top added just the right complementary flavor. Elyssa and I had five of these (each) while we were there, and would probably have them all the time if they there were available somewhere near us.

And We’re Back! (from Disney World)

by John Disney Springs, Epcot, Featured, Magic Kingdom, Resorts

If you follow Elyssa and Me on Instagram, you probably know that we just spent the last week visiting Disney World for the (shortened) Wine & Dine half marathon. This was our first big trip since we started Rope Drop [dot] Net, and, frankly, I anticipated posting a little on the site while we were on vacation. My apologies that didn’t happen, but we’ll try to make up for it over the next few weeks as we talk about some of the things we did on the trip, including:

Visiting Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival (Liquid Nitro truffles…mmmm….)
Dinner at The BOATHOUSE (including having a Baked Alaska)
8am Breakfast at Be Our Guest (Pre-park-opening Mine Train, baby!)
Dinner at Tutto Italia
Running the Wine & Dine (our first (half-ish) Half Marathon)
Dinner at Morimoto Asia
Our last viewing of the Osborne Lights (we’re going to miss those)
Attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (It really was beginning to look at a lot like Christmas)

We also stopped by Diagon Alley, and (if you ask her really nicely) there’s a chance that Elyssa might do a write-up about that (after she catches up on Kivus & Camera related photo editing).

We also have some really great interviews coming up (including our first ever 3-part interview with the always great Ken Storey), and some interesting thoughts about some of the “News Nuggets” that happened over the past week (SPOILER ALERT: We are bummed about no more Star Wars Weekends, even though we kind of knew it was going to happen).

If you have any interest in hearing about one of the above items more than others, please feel free to drop us a line or hit us up on Twitter. And, while you’re waiting for more content here, check out friend of the show Howie from Maryland on this week’s Mighty Men of Mouse podcast. They’re talking all about the MMoM Listener Land Ranknings that we posted here a couple of weeks ago.

That’s all for now. See you real soon!

Five Items I want to Try at 2015 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival

by John Commentary, Epcot, Events

It’s less than a month until Elyssa and I head down to Disney World to visit the Food & Wine festival (and run a race, or something….). That means it’s time to really start figuring out which booths I might want to visit at this year’s festival.

My process is simple: start with Josh of easyWDW’s reviews of the new (one and two) and the returning food items, and supplement with other reviews, as necessary. (As you’d probably guess, I would encourage you to check out Josh’s posts for the full description and photos of all the items.)

After going through the various reviews, here are five items that I know I want to try. I’m sure I’ll add to this list as I read more coverage, go back over reviews, etc…, but this is my starting point:

Crispy Pork Belly with Black Beans and Tomato (Brazil)

Josh from easyWDW describes this as:

It’s high quality meat with little fat and a crispy texture, despite sitting in the generous spoonful of flavorful black beans

Potato and Leek Waffle with Beer-Braised Beef and Smoked Gouda Cream (Belgium)

Josh from easyWDW describes this as:

Several large bites of tender, slow cooked beef top a freshly pressed waffle. It’s basically beef stew over a waffle with a little bit of an onion-y kick from the leeks

Chilaquiles de pollo (Mexico)

Josh from easyWDW describes this as:

[A] baked enchilada kind of thing with some corn chips that are no longer particularly crunchy. But it’s piled high with seasoned shredded chicken, melted cheese, and the other ingredients to make a flavorful dish that probably doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but tastes better than anything currently served at the Mexico quick service.

Tacos de camarón (Mexico)

Josh from easyWDW describes this as:

Battered shrimp, pico de gallo, pickled onions, and chipotle mayonnaise is a slightly different take on Mexico’s usual shrimp taco. This is the best version yet, with four lightly fried shrimp sitting underneath a creamy, spicy chipotle mayo and the piquant onions adding a little crunch along with the pico.

Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey Caramel (Next Eats)

WDW Magic describes this as:

It is made right in-front of you using liquid nitrogen to rapidly cool the truffle mix. It is all topped in a warm whiskey caramel to make a delicious sweet treat

Check out the easyWDW Twitter Feed if you want early Food & Wine Festival Pictures

by John Epcot

It’s preview day for the 2015 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival and Josh from easyWDW is tweeting up a picture filled storm. If you can’t wait to see details from this year’s festival, than I recommend checking out his Twitter feed:

Show time pic.twitter.com/rFFAZWxCBB

— josh (@easywdw) September 24, 2015

The Map for the 2015 Food & Wine Festival is Out

by John Epcot

Tom Corless at WDW News Today has posted a copy of the 2015 Food & Wine Festival Map if you are looking to start planning your visits to the various kiosks.